IDZ licences face temporary delay

Leonard Neill ADMINISTRATIVE PROBLEMS with the licence application for the establishment of an industrial development zone (IDZ) at Richards Bay have held up the East London application for an IDZ provisional operator's licence as these two applications are being processed together. "It's a temporary problem, but we are confident it will be sorted out within a month and our licence will come through," says East London IDZ Corporation chief executive Peter Miles. At the same time four engineering consortia have submitted proposals for the design of bulk services infrastructure in East London, he said. These are engineering consultants Africon, Ninham Shand, Stewart Scott and UWP. All four are now being assessed. An announcement regarding the successful bidder, which must be tabled by April next year, is expected before the end of this month. The design will cover services such as electrical power supply, water, waste-water, sewage, roads, lighting and security. The cost of installing these services, which must be in place by July 2004, will amount to R230 million.